Naruto: The Shadow Lord of the Nara Clan

After the clan chief discovered letters in his home in Shizuka, Nara, that showed him secretly communicating with Orochimaru, the restless Danzo faction within the Nara clan immediately quieted down.

Although they had Danzo's backing, they were able to contend with the Nara clan chief to some extent.

However, when it comes to Konoha's S-rank rogue ninja, even if they are arrogant, they wouldn't dare to act aggressively at this time.

Of course, not all members of the clan believed that Nara Shizuku had betrayed them.

Some of the clansmen, thinking themselves clever, genuinely believed that this was another blow from Nara Shikaku to Danzo's faction.

Regardless of what they think, given the current situation, remaining silent is the best option.

Therefore, Shikaku's work proceeded quite smoothly.

Whether it was the overt investigation of traitors within the family or the covert suppression of non-patriarchal forces, they encountered almost no obstacles.

Although Shikakage was not quite sure why Danzo hadn't made any statement about it.

But all in all, the result was good.

This is true not only for his family, but even more so for him personally.

……

Three days later, at the Nara family training ground.

Lu Ying lay on the rocking chair, checking the attribute panels of all the shadow soldiers under his command.

"Four Jonin Shadow Soldiers, twelve Chunin Shadow Soldiers, and four Genin Shadow Soldiers."

"Finally, I've collected twenty, completing half of my professional mission."

While Nara Shikaku was purging his family members, Shikakage made a large profit.

Since we've already got Shisui's shadow, instead of focusing on quality when choosing a shadow, we should finish the mission first.

Thus, the Nara clan ninjas sacrificed their lives.

They were born members of the Nara clan, and they will die members of the Nara clan!

He named four of the Jonin Shadow Soldiers as Number Two, Number Three, Number Four, and Number Five.

Number Two is naturally Shisui's shadow, Number Three and Number Four are the shadows of Nara Suzaku and Nara Shizuku respectively, and Number Five is a high-ranking member of Danzo's faction within the family who was eliminated by Nara Shikaku.

The remaining newly added shadow soldiers with Chunin and Genin strength are all non-clan chief ninjas of the Nara clan.

Touching her chin, Lu Ying pondered how to complete the other half of her professional mission.

"Among the current Shadow Soldiers, only Number Two (Shisui Shadow) has the potential to be promoted to Shadow Knight."

"Therefore, equipping it with [Shadow Kin - Naruto Uzumaki] is the most suitable option."

"Unfortunately, Naruto's template currently only increases leveling speed (learning speed), and does not provide additional boosts for Number Two."

"It will probably take a long time before it can be promoted."

Thinking of this, Lu Ying sighed.

He's stuck on his job quest, so he can't increase the number of shadow soldiers.

However, he had a good mindset and only worried for a few seconds before adjusting his emotions.

"Never mind, shadow soldiers are ultimately external things."

"I feel more fulfilled by improving myself."

Lu Ying looked at his system panel, examining the [Shadow Imitation Technique (lv 3)] and [Shadow Binding Technique (lv 3)] in the skill slots, and smiled with satisfaction.

He finally reached level three, which was a testament to his three days of tireless training.

In reality, spending time on these two ninjutsu is not worthwhile for Shikakage.

The main reason he did this was because Nara Salt Water generously sponsored the drop of items.

In the instant he killed him, Lu Ying not only gained his shadow, but also a useful skill stone—[Runic Stone: Shadow Imitation Binding Technique].

As the name suggests, this is a ninjutsu that combines the Shadow Imitation Technique and the Shadow Binding Technique.

This ninjutsu not only allows the user to completely bind the enemy with shadows, but also enables the user to control the enemy's movements to a certain extent.

It may seem ordinary, but the key is that this ability to control actions does not require the user to perform the same action!

Nara Shizuku wielded considerable influence within Danzo's faction because he had mastered a skillful Shadow Imitation Binding Technique.

This skillful ninjutsu has now been stolen by Shikakage.

He crushed the Runestone and watched expectantly as the two ninjutsu in the skill slot merged into a brand new skill.

【Shadow Imitation Binding Technique (lv 3)】

"As expected, it directly inherited the level of the original skill!"

Lu Ying smiled, clearly pleased with herself.

Skill levels are easy to improve at first, but the difficulty of improvement increases exponentially with each level.

Advanced shadow techniques like [Shadow Imitation Binding], comparable to [Shadow Gathering] and [Shadow Binding], are far more difficult to upgrade than the Shadow Three-Body Technique.

It was level 3 in one go, saving Lu Ying at least two months!

Just as Shikakage was experiencing the new ninjutsu skill, Shikaku strolled over.

In fact, he had been watching from a short distance away for a while, and only spoke up after confirming that Lu Ying had begun to rest:

"Lu Ying, your mother has completely taken over the Lu Management Bureau."

"This is the 'living allowance' she gave you. I don't know what you need so much money for..."

Ignoring Lu Jiu's complaints, Lu Ying's eyes suddenly lit up, and she swiftly snatched a thick stack of banknotes from Lu Jiu's hand.

"That's none of your business."

As Lu Ying happily counted her money, she couldn't help but admire how capable her parents were.

They've taken full control of the family fortune so quickly.

"Oh, right." After laboriously stuffing the 300,000 taels of silver into his pocket, Lu Ying asked curiously:

"Has the investigation into the matter of Nara Shizuku's collusion with Orochimaru been completed?"

Upon hearing this, Shikaku's expression hardened, and his tone became serious:

"It's been investigated."

"He's helping Orochimaru test drugs!"

At this point, Shikaku's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, because he was in charge of the Nara Research Institute.

Right under their noses, Nara Saltwater was conducting human experiments that were explicitly forbidden by the village!

"drug?"

Lu Ying raised an eyebrow, suddenly recalling the plot of the original work—the awakening of Shui Mu's cursed seal.

Mizuki's cursed seal was an early experimental product of Orochimaru and was far inferior to the mature version of the cursed seal.

If Mizuki wants to activate the cursed seal, he can only use a certain kind of forbidden drug.

And the place where this banned drug was produced was the Nara Research Institute!

—Good heavens, I never expected Orochimaru to have his eye on my research institute at this time.

Lu Ying muttered to himself, although Orochimaru had taken a share of his wealth, he was not currently planning to cause trouble for Orochimaru.

It's troublesome to kill them...

His focus was on the drug that could awaken the Waterwood Curse Seal.

This drug can greatly increase Mizuki's strength, but the side effects are extremely severe, consuming a lot of life force and easily causing him to die.

But shadow soldiers aren't human!

Moreover, shadow soldiers can be resurrected at any time.

—Perhaps, we could let Number One try this drug?

Number One's strength is no longer keeping up with Lu Ying's.

Moreover, it has been stripped of its Naruto template, making it even more useless now.

He only kept his virginity because of his obsession with virginity.

If it can help No. 1 improve, Lu Ying would be happy to give it a try.

So he said:

"Let me take a look."

"Don't worry, I won't eat it."

"Just out of pure curiosity."